The Depression Era was a time of great conflict caused by speculation and largely unregulated business practices. Nearly everyone in the United States has been affected, even many citizens of other countries around the world, but the working poor have been disproportionately affected. Both farmers and workers experienced anti-union sentiment even before the turn of the century and were subjected to extremely dangerous working conditions, low wages, and, in the case of farmers, many accrued mass debt due to falling commodity prices. While the Great Depression led to unnecessary suffering for the working poor, it also led to many great successes through the work of the labor movement, which benefited future generations and began a legacy that continues today . The labor movement did not begin because of the Great Depression, instead it experienced a massive increase in strength due to the increasingly difficult working conditions of the time. Before the Depression, the United States faced small labor gains, such as the populist movement among farmers in the late 1800s and legislation in New York after the Triangle Factory fire. While previous tragedies brought small successes, unions were able to organize more efficiently and stage mass demonstrations that largely shaped the legislation. Some of the most influential demonstrations were the Minneapolis truck strikes. Created by General Drivers 574 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, it ran intermittently between May 16 and August 21, 1934 (labor turning point: Minneapolis truck strikes of 1934). 574 haulers managed to shut down the city's trucking industry for a period of time and help shape legislation using a large selection of me...... middle of paper ...... so as to easily disrupt strikes and the approval of anti-union laws. While strikes have become much more difficult to initiate and maintain successfully, citizens vying for change now have greater opportunities to reach each other using the vast media provided by the Internet, offering the possibility of forming broader coalitions across the country . The methods used by social media Movements of the past still have great potential to show current generations viable ways to achieve social benefits, and although some actions could be considered radical, the drive and organization shown by the workers' movement could still easily prove successful . A movement away from the endless, scattered interest groups and toward larger, organized movements that aim to improve the greater social good could lead to the political and economic improvement that many Americans desire...